Goodbye to Blue Bayou ("Boo")
Died October 2, 2005
https://www.thegoldencarrot.org/meet-the-horses/meet-the-horses.html?horse=4&action=detail
Yesterday, I came down to put everyone in their stalls for dinner, and saw Boo’s last moments. He appeared to be seizing. He did not acknowledge me, didn’t seem to be attempting to get up, his tongue was hanging out and dragging in the dirt as he twitched and moved his head back and forth. I think he was gone even then, but within five minutes he was still, at peace.
After a summer where he had me worried again and again, I had thought we were in the clear. He kept having a day or two when he would eat – but again and again, I’d find another tooth in his feeder, or stall. Once the tooth was out, and I was feeding him vast quantities of mash every night, he was fine. Couldn’t eat his beloved carrots unless they were very tiny, thin, but loved apples. His weight had come up, although I felt he needed more. He was active with his boys, Dilly and Cowboy, although now he was last down the hill in their afternoon dash, where before he had been leading or sometimes second. But my best guess of his age was 28-30, and that’s fair. He was still a powerhouse, and a strong personality, in charge of the Tres Amigos. But this is how it goes. Some linger on for so long, so strong. Others, not so much.
Blue Bayou was the product of a fancy breeding facility in Louisiana, a Tennessee Walking/Spotted walking horse. Im not a fan of humans breeding anything, even when it’s pretty or (dogs) cute. We always mess it up. So to me, he had some strikes against a long comfortable life. When he first came to TGC, I was confoobled by his “gait”. He always looked lame to me - he’d been diagnosed with Wobblers, a lesion at C4 – but my vet said it was an extremely mild case (no film, but a vet report). And he always seemed pretty ok, ran when he wanted, did the weird foot shuffling they often do instead of a trot, and walked everywhere with ease. And for a long time, was a very easy keeper. Well behaved.
And always with a friend or two by his side. Ronan for a long time; then Cowboy and Dilly. In the last year, first time ever, he saw a mare he wanted like I want sleep. Maddie, a beautiful blond, was the woman of his dreams, and he abandoned his crew to stand as close to her as he could get, even ramming the pipe corral between them, and staring at her like a loon. After his terrible behavior forcing Cowboy to choose between Annie and himself/Dilly, it surprised me. And made me sad when he stood looking into her empty stall for a few days.
His astonishing coloring will be so dearly missed. Two bright blue eyes; a black and white coat that defined contrast – perfectly snow white, and space black with clean lines separating – I never had trouble finding him. And he was a sweetie – if you had a treat. He led his crew back to the stalls everyday for dinner, knew exactly when it was time, and went into his stall. I think the last months, when I often found his crew in his stall with him, or him in one of their stalls with them, may have been them being protective of him. Ive seen it many times, when the strong (but older, or frailer) horse who runs their mini-herd, begins to be protected, and led by the formerly subordinate horses. I didn’t want to see that tho. Often a sign their time is short.